Is Elon Musk in Trouble?

[KaraBulut]

One unfortunate aspect of AI bots and large language models {LLM} is that they will incorporate anything that is input into them. For example, if you are a graduate student and you use AI to write or review your dissertation, the paper gets incorporate into the LLM's database, thwarting any copyright or proprietary privilege.

With this in mind, somehow the GSA signed off on using Twitter's AI bot, Grok, as an approved tool for government agencies.

We really are living in an episode of The Twilight Zone.

Elon Musk’s Chatbot Goes to Washington

The billionaire’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, has secured a deal with the government that will allow federal agencies to use the chatbot Grok for a small fee.

www.nytimes.com

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, on Thursday said it had secured a deal with the government that would allow federal agencies to use its chatbot for a nominal fee.

Per the agreement between xAI and the General Services Administration, which handles many of the U.S. government’s vendor contracts, federal agencies will be charged 42 cents in total to use xAI’s chatbot Grok for a year and a half. Agencies that use Grok will receive help from xAI engineers to implement the company’s tools.

“We look forward to continuing to work with President Trump and his team to rapidly deploy A.I. throughout the government for the benefit of the country,” Mr. Musk said in a statement.

GSA and xAI Partner on $0.42 per Agency Agreement to Accelerate Federal AI Adoption

Latest OneGov offering makes xAI’s powerful Grok frontier AI models available to federal agencies at lowest price and longest duration to date; marks final frontier model to be added to GSA’s suite of

www.gsa.gov

GSA and xAI Partner on $0.42 per Agency Agreement to Accelerate Federal AI Adoption

Latest OneGov offering makes xAI’s powerful Grok frontier AI models available to federal agencies at lowest price and longest duration to date; marks final frontier model to be added to GSA’s suite of AI offerings

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced a major OneGov agreement with xAI, making Grok AI models accessible to federal agencies for only $0.42 per organization. This unique offer is in place for 18 months—the longest term for a OneGov AI agreement to date—and is valid until March 2027. The agreement includes access to Grok 4 and Grok 4 Fast, xAI’s advanced reasoning models. Additionally, xAI is committing dedicated engineers to assist participating agencies with rapidly and effectively implementing these AI tools into their workstreams.

“Widespread access to advanced AI models is essential to building the efficient, accountable government that taxpayers deserve—and to fulfilling President Trump’s promise that America will win the global AI race,” said Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum. “We value xAI for partnering with GSA—and dedicating engineers—to accelerate the adoption of Grok to transform government operations.”

 

[KaraBulut]

Ah, so the US government doesn't have money to provide healthcare premium subsidies to the low-income citizens who have insurance through the Healthcare.gov exchange but they do have $2.9 billion to give to Elon Musk for a trip to the moon "later this decade"?

https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/20/science/nasa-spacex-moon-landing-contract-sean-duffy

NASA may sideline SpaceX and choose a different company to land its astronauts on the moon later this decade, acting space agency chief Sean Duffy suggested during TV appearances Monday.

Duffy emphasized that he believes SpaceX, which has a $2.9 billion contract to provide the lunar lander astronauts would ride to the moon’s surface, is lagging behind schedule, potentially thwarting NASA’s efforts to return humans to the moon before China amid a new space race.

“They push their timelines out, and we’re in a race against China,” Duffy told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday morning, referring to SpaceX’s development of Starship — the vehicle the company plans to use as a lunar lander for NASA. “So, I’m going to open up the contract. I’m going to let other space companies compete with SpaceX.”

 

[rareboy]

Tesla’s profits declined in the third quarter, with net income dropping 37% in the period ending Sept. 30 - even as consumers rushed to purchase electric vehicles before the $7,500 federal tax credit expired last month. (WSJ) Also worth noting that MuskCo. has apparently been buying the unsold Cybertrucks using money from Government contracts which should have helped the quarterly results.

 

[rareboy]

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[KaraBulut]

It may just be a coincidence that Trump sent the National Guard to Memphis:

Inside the Memphis Community Battling Elon Musk’s xAI

A TIME investigation reveals data tying Musk’s AI data center to pollution surges in a historically Black Memphis area.

time.com

‘We Are the Last of the Forgotten:’ Inside the Memphis Community Battling Elon Musk’s xAI

Five days after Elon Musk’s Grok 4 became one of the most powerful large language models in the world, Alexis Humphreys had her first severe asthma attack in 15 years. She laid down in her house in Boxtown, Memphis in the humid, sticky summer, struggling to breathe, inhaling a smell of gas that had started wafting into her neighborhood about a year before. “It felt like my chest was caving in,” Humphreys, 28, says on her front porch a couple of days later.

Environmentalists and community activists say this is no coincidence. Boxtown, a predominantly Black community with a median income of $37,000, sits a few miles from where Musk, driven by ambitions of creating an AI smarter than humans, set up the self-proclaimed biggest supercomputer in the world last year. The supercomputer, named Colossus, consisted of a staggering 230,000 Nvidia GPUs, a sheer training power that allowed Musk to vault past his competitors in key benchmarks. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, another AI titan, praised Musk’s rapid buildout of the site as “superhuman.”

 

[rareboy]

Well, we know that Musk doesn't give a shit about other humans, so the Boxtown people will just be collateral damage.

 

[rareboy]

Should be under the DEplorables thread....Musk using the 'Gay' epithet in contract negotiations.

Elon Musk Calls NASA Chief “Gay” Over Space Contract

Elon Musk is using homophobia to fight his business battles. The SpaceX CEO deployed a tired old meme against Sean Duffy, the interim NASA administrator, after Duffy threatened one of Musk’s lucrative contracts. "There has been an increase both in love and in hate for me, due to the inherently...

www.dnamagazine.com.au

 

[rareboy]

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[rareboy]

She's right you know.

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[KaraBulut]

She's right you know.

Ah, yes. Elon Musk: the expert on being human.

 

[KaraBulut]

Edsel, 2025 edition.

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/teslas-cybertruck-chief-siddhant-awasthi-departs-after-eight-years-2025-11-10/

Tesla's Cybertruck chief Siddhant Awasthi departs after eight years

Tesla's opens new tab head of the Cybertruck program, Siddhant Awasthi, said late on Sunday that he is leaving the U.S. electric vehicle maker after more than eight years with the company.
Awasthi, who began his Tesla journey as an intern, most recently oversaw the Cybertruck program from its engineering phase to large-scale production, leading efforts in product strategy, quality enhancements, and supply chain management, according to his LinkedIn profile.

In addition to heading the Cybertruck initiative, he also took on leadership of Tesla's Model 3 program last July.

Tesla Model Y Program Manager Follows Cybertruck Exec and Leaves Automaker: TDS

Tesla experienced its second high-profile exit within 24 hours.

www.thedrive.com

Tesla Model Y Program Manager Follows Cybertruck Exec and Leaves Automaker: TDS
Tesla experienced its second high-profile exit within 24 hours.

Tesla’s Model Y program manager, Emmanuel Lamacchia, left the automaker after eight years, which marked the second high-profile exit from the company after the Cybertruck program manager, Siddhant Awasthi, announced his exit.

 

[rareboy]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. So he is the one who is likely taking the fall. Meanwhile, Musk gets a trillion dollar pay package.

 

[cityboy-stl]

Hard for me to believe people are still buying Tesla cars, but I guess they are.

 

[KaraBulut]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. So he is the one who is likely taking the fall. Meanwhile, Musk gets a trillion dollar pay package.

I seem to recall that there was a blurb about Musk buying up a bunch of Cybertrucks from inventory in order to make sales numbers look better. There were thousands of Cybertrucks sitting in parking lots at abandoned shopping malls and other places because they couldn't sell them off the dealer lots. I've also heard that Telsa may have given good deals to Telsa employees to drive them around cities where they live to make it look like they were selling.

 

[rareboy]

I think it was Musk/Tesla who outfitted the Vegas PD with some as well. Certainly, they are as rare as hens' teeth in Ontario.

 

[rareboy]

He really is a fucking nutter.

 

[rareboy]

Well this is predictable and horrifying.

Musk's Grokipedia is referencing Stormfront, a KKK, ultra white supremacist organization.

Over a decade ago, we had a Stormfronter turn up on JUB and this forum. He finally got smoked out and exposed and disappeared as it became evident that recruitment would be tricky.

Elon Musk’s Grokipedia cites Stormfront — a neo-Nazi forum — dozens of times, study finds

An analysis by researchers at Cornell University is the first comprehensive look at Grokipedia since Musk launched his project last month.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[rareboy]

Although....

 

[Alistair]

 

[rareboy]

Xitter added a feature that showed the origins of posters' accounts and exposed tons of high profile accounts with blue checks originating in Macedonia, Eastern Europe and other countries.

They apparently deleted the feature pretty quickly but not before some eyebrow raising screen caps had been saved.